Preface

This book is about broadening your definition of what constitutes effective leadership. As we interviewed senior executives and listened to their reactions to the lessons in the book, we frequently heard, “I wish I’d heard these earlier in my career.” We hope that this book can accelerate your leadership development by removing some of the serendipity that is often required to learn important life lessons. We also hope that you will gain a sense of freedom with respect to your role as a leader—an understanding that you are not trapped in your current leadership style. In fact, you have the power to choose alternative ways of thinking, acting, and behaving in the leadership activities you are responsible for today.

Why should you broaden your definition of leadership? In the current climate of intense economic and political uncertainty, many thought leaders conceptualize effective organizational leadership in terms of driving mission clarity, precise strategy execution, and management of extremely complex systems. And without a doubt, these competencies are crucial for leaders in the 21st century. At the same time, we have found that there are consistent demands on leaders to demonstrate greater flexibility in how they respond to rapidly fluctuating circumstances.

Peter F. Drucker described these demands succinctly: “[Leaders] require the capacity to analyze, to think, to weigh alternatives, and to harmonize dissent. But they also require the capacity for quick and decisive action, for boldness and for intuitive courage. They require being at home with abstract ideas, concepts, calculations and figures. They also require perception of people, a human awareness, empathy, and all together a lively interest in people and respect for them.” The purpose of this book is to provide leaders at all levels with a straightforward method to understand their personal leadership equations, and more importantly, a model to increase their flexibility in navigating beyond their comfort zones of leadership behavior. We believe that multidimensional leaders are more effective in responding to rapidly shifting circumstances than leaders who cling to what they do best.

The 8 Dimensions of Leadership is based on the DiSC^® model of human behavior, a system of psychology that helps explain how “normal” people think, feel, and act based on the dynamic interplay of four major emotional reactions: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. The concepts behind DiSC^® were articulated in the 1920s by Dr. William Moulton Marston, formalized and commercialized in the 1970s by Dr. John Geier, and further advanced by the Inscape Publishing research team.

In Part 1 of the book, we introduce you to the 8 Dimensions of Leadership—a DiSC-based typology of leadership styles—and provide access to an online assessment to help you determine your primary leadership dimension. In Part 2, we explore the common psychological drivers associated with each of the eight dimensions. In Part 3, we help you determine what lessons from the eight dimensions might be most relevant to your leadership development at this point in your career. We then provide a set of lessons and suggestions to help you increase your flexibility in the dimensions you choose to work on. We don’t expect you to read Part 2 and Part 3 of the book end-to-end. Instead, we suggest that you read the chapters that are most relevant to you and come back to the book when circumstances demand a change in your leadership style.